Barrett Ruud May Get the Franchise Tag Says PFW

It was recently suggested that the Buccaneers will consider using the franchise tag on MLB Barrett Ruud, who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. It’s not clear whether teams will get another chance to use the tag, however, as teams that wanted to use the tag this year already did so before the lockout began. The deadline to use the tag under the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement, which expired in March, was Feb. 24.

We hear it’s far more likely that the Bucs will try to work out a multiyear deal with Ruud and spread the guaranteed money they would spend on him in one year under the tag — which is projected to be about $10 million for linebackers — over multiple seasons. Tag amounts are the average of the five highest-paid players at each position. Assuming the tag option is not made available to Tampa Bay, it seems unlikely Ruud would agree to another one-year deal.